Soon he will be plucking them, but presently Andy Reid is pulling the strings at Sunderland. An avid amateur guitarist, the Ireland player intends to inflict his musical tastes on his teammates, although not before orchestrating their attempts to avoid relegation. Where there was discord on Saturday, Reid brought harmony.
In a brief appearance from the substitutes’ bench - his debut for the club – the 25-year-old Dubliner added gravitas to the Sunderland midfield. Portly he may be, but Reid provided something Roy Keane’s team have lacked. Call it creativity, vision, or time on the ball, it was a counterpoint to endeavour and sweat.
Defeat was harsh on Wigan Athletic, who struck the woodwork twice in the second half and dredged some fine saves from Craig Gordon, but they appeared to freeze in front of goal. Even when Jason Koumas arrived they had no equivalent to Reid, whose immediate intervention was to sweep a brilliant pass the breadth of the pitch for Daryl Murphy to score, blissfully, from long range.
The Stadium of Light burst into song – relief was deepened by the defeats suffered by Fulham, Reading and Bolton Wanderers – and Reid was tempted to follow suit. “I only signed last week, so I haven’t had a chance to get my guitar out,” he said. “But I do play a bit. It’s nice to do something different. I was brought up listening to Irish folk and I should be OK with that in this dressing-room.”
A £4 million acquisition from Charlton Athletic, Reid has not decamped to Wearside simply to strum along. “I haven’t come here to be in a relegation dogfight every year,” he said. “I’ve come here to kick on. There are clubs in mid-table, pushing for Europe, who are nowhere near as big as us. Everything here is geared up to challenging for that.”
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Consolidation comes first, however, and this result – Sunderland’s fourth home league victory in succession – marked a significant staging post. They are fourteenth in the table, one place and two points behind Newcastle United, and their spirit compensated for the absence of Kieran Richardson, Carlos Edwards, Dwight Yorke, Liam Miller and Danny Higginbotham.
Having hit the bar, Sunderland grasped the lead through Dickson Etuhu’s 42nd-minute header, but thereafter they relied on good fortune and Gordon’s reflexes. The Scotland goalkeeper has not won universal approval since his club-record £9 million transfer last summer, but supporters cheered him lustily on Saturday.
Keane pinpointed a peculiar cause. “I think his haircut helps,” the manager said. “It used to help me. I used to feel leaner and sharper. Meaner.” Finally, Gordon was a cut above.
Sunderland (4-4-2): C Gordon 8 – P Bardsley 6, N Nosworthy 7, J Evans 8, D Collins 7 – R O’Donovan 5 (sub; R Prica, 27, 4), D Whitehead 6, D Etuhu 6 (sub; G Leadbitter, 85), D Murphy 8 – K Jones 5, M Chopra 4 (sub: A Reid, 75). Substitutes not used: M Fulop, P McShane. Next: Portsmouth (a).
Wigan Athletic (4-4-2): C Kirkland 6 – M Melchiot 5 (sub: J Koumas, 46, 6), E Boyce 6, P Scharner 8, K Kilbane 7 – A Valencia 4, W Palacios 6, M Brown 7, R Taylor 5 (sub: S Olembe, 56 4) – M King 4, E Heskey 5 (sub: M Bent, 68 4). Substitutes not used: M Pollitt, A Granqvist. Booked: Valencia. Next: Derby County (h).